Here’s the Bergen Record reporting on the Golden State Warriors, who won the 2015 NBA championship and are the favorites to win it again this season:
The stands at Madison Square Garden were crowded two hours before the game began. Kids in Golden State Warriors jerseys and their families waited for a glimpse of the greatest show on hardwood.
And the show arrived. Stephen Curry came out for his pregame ritual of machine-gun-speed dribbling and shots from all over the court — all the way to half-court. When the game began it continued, a stream of beautifully orchestrated passes leading to quick-trigger three-point field goals. Curry was contained for the most part, but the Warriors come in waves. On this night it was Klay Thompson (34 points, 14-of-18 shooting) and Draymond Green (20 points, 9-of-9 shooting, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) who carried them to an easy 116-95 win over the Knicks.
The allure of the Warriors isn’t just the magical display of finesse. To have gotten where they are now, the real magic has been in the hearts and minds of the players, an underappreciated toughness up and down the roster. When they were listless in the first quarter Sunday, coach Steve Kerr huddled up the team, smashed the clipboard, and threw it at the bench.
“Coach Kerr got on us pretty good,” Thompson said. “He had a terrible clipboard throw, but other than that, he was very animated on the sideline. We responded well to it. He told us we were playing very embarrassing and to pick it up.”
